Tom and Nancy Riley sat in the risers at Invesco Field at Mile High about 2 p.m. wearing large-brimmed hats to keep off the sun. They waited for an event that the former Iowa state legislator said he has been working to see for decades.

Tom Riley worked on civil rights bills in the 1960s when he was a Republican. He and his wife said they traveled from Cedar Rapids to be a part of this moment in history.

Tom Riley said his employer in the 1960s discouraged him from fighting for civil rights. His boss said, "We'll have all sorts of things wrong" if blacks were afforded the same rights as whites.

"I think we're past that time in this country," he said. "I sure hope we are at least.

Phyllis Tucker has a busy naturopath business outside of Estes Park. But she shut down her office and won't reopen it until after the election. During that time, she is working full time for the Obama campaign.

She said she never served in the military so this is her chance to serve her country. Her husband, William Kipp, related this proudly as she worked the phones at Invesco Field.

"She works for Obama 40 to 50 hours a week. She makes 30 to 50 calls a day. She knocks on doors," he said as she waved. "She's amazing."

In memory of his father

James Keown of Thornton stands out in the crowded hallway at Invesco. He's tall, but it's the vintage gray felt fedora that is the eye-catcher.

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"Oh, man, I'm so glad you asked about this," he said, patting the hat.

His father wore the hat when he marched on Washington with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. In honor of his late father, Keown is wearing the hat to the speech of the man he hopes will be the first black president.

"I know he would be so proud," he said.

His father had a closet at home where he kept things that were so special they were not to be touched. In that closet were the hat and a suit.

Colorado delegate Vivian Stovall of Denver is on the field at Invesco Field at Mile High on Thursday afternoon.
(Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post
)

In the suit pocket was a rock.

Keown's father told him he was hit in the head with that rock when he stepped from the bus in Washington. He slipped the rock into his pocket. He later told his son that he had thoughts of throwing it at those who were trying to block the march for civil rights. But part of the marchers' agenda was nonviolence. The rock stayed in the pocket.

Opposition to Iraq war

In Shiprock, N.M., in the heart of the Navajo Nation, Barack Obama is viewed by many as a new hope. So Everett Howe made the long drive to Denver to hear Obama speak.

Howe is a retired sheriff's deputy and a former Marine sergeant. But he said he shares Obama's view that the war in Iraq is a mistake.

That belief was made even stronger when the husband of one of Howe's nieces was killed by friendly fire in April 2004. Dwayne Todachenee was the first Navajo killed in Iraq. "My opposition to the war is a main issue for me," Howe said.

"Redefining grass roots"

Carol Sullivan made calls for Obama on the bank of phones at Invesco. Calling strangers and trying to wrangle a vote out of them is not her favorite thing to do, but "I realize this is the way people get elected."

Sullivan, then Carol Edmonds, was a state representative from Grand Junction from 1979 to 1981. She said she is wowed by the political organization that has propelled Obama to his candidacy.

"He is redefining grass roots," she said as she headed to a phone. "This is way beyond anything we ever did."

A living laboratory

Invesco Field was a living laboratory for Carlene Carey for a day. The high school teacher from Santa Fe was at the Invesco gates when they opened Thursday, eager to gather information for her students. "I remember the Martin Luther King speech and how it shaped society. To think that in the course of a lifetime, we've gone from that to this," she said, holding her hands out wide.

A new role model

Pensal McCray, a 66-year-old Denver resident, said she remembers being forced to switch trains in Washington, D.C., because she had just crossed the Mason-Dixon line.

"I had to get on a coach and order a chicken box lunch while all the whites got to sit in the dining hall," she said.

McCray had just returned from a tour of sites of the underground railroad through Southern states.

"When I was little, you used to hear the black boys saying they wanted to be president of the United States, but then when they got older, you didn't hear that anymore. Now our boys have a role model."

Lucky to be there

Heather Sahlg of Glenwood Springs, with a backpack on her back and her daughter on her hip, beamed bright as she walked down the hall at Invesco.

Sahlg said she got on the light rail Thursday morning without a ticket, hoping she would get lucky. She hung out by the credentials gate, and passers-by gave her two tickets.

"This is history in the making," she said. "My mom was at the '68 convention. This is our generation, even better I think."

"This is awesome!"

Blake Huber stood along the railing between two sections whistling, waving the red, white and blue and banging together tubular clackers.

"This is awesome!" said Huber, a burly man with a gray-white beard and a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

The communications worker from Denver wore a neon-green vest and a pin with the slogan "I'm pro freedom" scrawled on it.

He said that the primary season that saw a woman, a Latino and an African-American as serious presidential contenders was indescribable. "It signals to the rest of the world that old, white men don't have a lock on America anymore," he said.

A heated argument

Between the heat and the lines and perhaps some confusion, there were some tense moments. "There's a reason why Denver hasn't had a convention in 100 years," said a visibly angry delegate from New Jersey.

The man, who didn't give his name, got into an argument with an Invesco event staffer, apparently because he couldn't get to the floor to sit with his delegation. "I've been waiting here four hours," he yelled.

First vote in 25 years

Maria Henriquez had been selling cheese popcorn and bratwurst all day, but she took a quick break — with a dish rag hanging on her belt — to watch Obama take the stage.

"I just wanted to see him come out," she said as she waved a flag.

Henriquez said she hasn't voted in 25 years, but she'll vote this year. "I'm coming out of retirement," she said. "I finally have someone to vote for."

"I pray for him"

In a row of wheelchairs, Eric Harden nodded as Obama spoke of sacrifice and "each one of us pursuing our dreams." Then he waved his flag more frantically than anyone in the area. Harden put on a carefully pressed shirt to show his respect for Obama. "I love that man. I pray for him each and every day."

Too young to remember

All around him, people were listening to Obama's every word, but Desmond Ammann was fussing.

Desmond is 3 months old, and his mother, Ingrid Ammann, carried him through the long line because she wants to tell him someday that he was here. "I've been taking pictures of him everywhere so I can show him, too," Ammann says.

Kimberly S. Johnson of The Denver Post and Brandi Grissom and Tammerlin Drummond of MediaNews Group contributed to this report.

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